> tips on liquifying HFCS once
> it has set up in plastic storage tanks?  What is the storage life of 55
> HFCS?  Any other HFCS tips appreciated.
>
I put my tanks on a 2 inch Styrofoam sheet for insulation before filling.
Wrap them with Reflectex or whatever works best for the shape of the tank
and whatever is handy. Then I drop a soil heating cable into the tank. I
keep a number of these handy in various wattages and use whatever size is
called for depending on how hard the syrup has hardened and how cold the
outside temperature is and the amount of syrup in the tank. These cables
have a built in thermostat. Make sure this ends up inside the tank. The
temperature is just right to do the job. Around 80 F (27 C) if I remember
correctly.

Some syrup I get (usually invert) does not form a hard crust, rather it
starts to get a creamy consistency. I pump this of into pails and it hardens
into a soft fondant. In spring I put a piece of 12 x 12 inch pizza paper on
top of the frames and scoop a few hefty dollops of the 'fondant' on. Then
squish down the inner cover down slowly. The pizza paper keeps the fondant
off the cluster. When I come back in a few days it is all gone. The bees
seem to really love it and thrive on it.

I have found the invert seems to cause swarming so it must be used sparingly
from April on. Those little girls just make piggies of themselves on invert.
YMMV.

Bob

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